Cupcakes!

Aren't they beautiful?

My good friend Alicja sent me home from lunch on Sunday with 4 of these gorgeous cupcakes.

If anyone is after a cake in Fife/the Lothians, you could not do any better than contacting Art Deco Cakes.

They look amazing, and tasted divine.

I have so much respect and admiration for Alicja and partner Blazej for the bold move of starting a business, and wish them all the luck in the world!

Thanks again guys xx

A couple of pictures of steak

Lunch in Newcastle: Steak Diane, done rare with chips and onion rings.

Proper man food! It really is porn on a plate!

Chicken (isn't always dry and flavourless)

Back from my trip to Newcastle... I had gone hard, not eaten so well, and needed some lovely fresh and healthy fare.

I arrived from the train station to find housemate S at home watching the Rugby, I asked if he'd like some lunch then got stuck into it.

I don't much care for chicken... to me, chicken is dry, stringy and generally without flavour. The exception to the rule, I think, is a lovely chicken thigh, pan fried. When done correctly, it seems like a completely different meat to regular old chicken.

I heated the non stick fry pan, and to the thighs added mixed dried herbs, freshly ground pepper and some of the lemon pepper i picked up in Dahab. When the pan was really hot I added the thigh pieces. No oil or butter, and allowed to fry.

The salad was a simple one of mixed leaves, celery, cucumber, plum tomato and broccoli, a ADORE raw broccoli. The dressing I had inadvertently discovered/invented last week... full egg mayo, dijon mustard and lemon juice... thick creamy, rich and tangy.

As the chicken was browning on one side I flipped it, the colour was so lovely. At this stage i decided to add some semi-dried tomatoes and some of the oil from the jar... the smells were intoxicating.

The tomatoes blackened in the pan, and the flavours intensified.

When cooking chicken I never know when it is cooked through, so I could never serve a whole thigh, but I quite the small pieces they inevitably become after cutting through to check for pinkness.

I served up the salad and some avocado on the plate as I let the chicken sit for a minute.

Then served up the plates for S and I

Such a lovely fresh, clean lunch. The meat was so moist, and tasted like beautiful real chicken. So happy with it. Buy chicken thighs!

A Room in West End

Sunday night and I didn't feel like cooking. I didn't feel like ordering in. I felt like being cooked for.

After watching a fantastic 6 Nations Game with housemate S, I asked if the restaurant attached to the bar he managed would be busy. He said Sunday night's were quiet and I could come down anytime.

Teuchter's in West End is lovely. It's warm and cosy, and when it's not too busy (it's VERY popular) it's a great place to go for a quiet drink and read of the paper.

I walked down and after a peruse of the Sunday Paper and a glass of the house white, I headed downstairs to the restaurant: A Room in West End.

The restaurant is empty (which suits me just fine). The dining area is all in the basement, but feels comfy and welcoming without feeling enclosed or boxy.

It's beneficial knowing the staff and I ask one of the chefs for his recommendations. And I'm glad I did as I would not have ordered what I did otherwise. It's something I am going to start doing more regularly.

For starters I ordered the aubergine pate.

It it warm with the most wonderful lingering heat (I was told that it is almost a quarter jalapenos). Its texture is perfectly complimented by the crumbly oat cakes. The carrot and cumin side is the most morish, unusual flavour combination I have tried. I really interesting and taste-packed entree.

For the main I ordered the duck, with cabbage and a blue cheese sauce. More often than not, if duck is on the menu I will order it.

This meal was DIVINE. The sauteed cabbage and carrot was one of the most wonderful things I had ever tried. It was simple but oh so flavoursome. Chef came out almost immediately to make sure the duck wasn't too pink for my liking, it wasn't at all, it was perfect. While he was present I asked how come duck can be served pink but not chicken, and he told me it was because as many as two thirds of chicken contains salmonella. Fair call I say. But I really enjoyed how this duck was cooked, and it's flavour defined yet subtle. Look at the size of the breasts! This may have been the loveliest duck I have ever had. The creamy sauce added just the right amount of saltiness. And the jam was just the right amount of sweet and tartness.

The main was served with a bowl of vegetables.

My eyes lit up when I saw the boiled baby potatoes, they have become my favourite way to have tatties. All the veg were cooked perfectly, but in my opinion could have used a big lump of real butter.

After my first two courses I was quite full, but forced a look at the dessert menu.

For the first time (possibly in my life) nothing jumped out at me. I decided eventually on the pear and ginger-nut baked cheesecake.

To be honest, I'm not the biggest cheesecake fan in the world. This cheesecake was... nice. The texture was quite fluffy, but perhaps it was too grown-uppy for me, or maybe just nit sweet enough. The pears really added no sweetness, and unless i meticulously measures base to cheese to butterscotch ratio it was either a bit too bland or a bit to gingery.

In all, the savory portion of this meal was a 9/10, and I will most certainly be back. It may even become my Sunday night dinner haunt. And maybe my lesson learned was that if I don't really feel like dessert, I probably don't need it.

Food Porn

Dumplings from Chop Chop: pork and prawn (front) and beef and chilli (back)

Chop Chop delivery: Aubergine and sweet and sour pork ribs, steamed rice

Dominos delivery

Ham, Pineapple and mushroom, thin base

Grand Marnier Cleme Brulee: Le Marché Français

Vanilla Slice, Le Marché Français

Eggs Benedict with tattie scones and black pudding: Urban Angel- Hanover Street

Flat White, date flapjack: Wellington Coffee

Bacon and cheese sandwich, Steak burger: dinner at home

They look so good together

Curry Night

Last night myself and my housemate S had 2 friends over for catch ups, drinks and dinner.

I was in charge of cooking and we were having CURRY.

In the morning I popped into the shop to pick up the naan, poppadoms, yoghurt and cucumber for the raita, and everything else I was hoping I would be able to use up from the kitchen.

I knew I had 600g of pork chops, and I wanted to go a vege one as well. This is literally how blindly I went into this.

I looked in the cupboard and discovered we had lentils. Having never cooked with lentils before I read the side of the pack for cooking instructions and decided on dahl... curry... of some sort.

I began with onion, diced celery, garlic and chillies which I sauteed in olive oil. To this I added differing amounts of various spices, of which I have only a vague recollection of, cumin, tumeric, curry powder, pepper, lemon salt (from Dahab) to coat the vegetables, then I put aside while boiling off the lentils.

 

I created the a similar base for the pork curry, added the cubed flesh, one aubergine and one sliced apple and fried off.

I'd used apple in the last pork curry I made, and after a long cook, it breaks down and adds a lovely sweetness to the sauce. I added the aubergine, just cause I love it, and was really keen to see what kind of consistency it would take on.

You know what I really love... when you've been cooking long enough that you have the balls to just TRY something, with the confidence that you could probably bring it back to life in a worst case situation. It's also the thing I love about recipe-free cooking.

My ballsy maneuver... coming up with a replacement for canned tomatoes, which would generally be added at this point, and of which I did not have.

Solution: tomato juice.

I let this boil down for a bit, tasted and re-seasoned. It was really nice.

After maybe 30 or 45 minutes I added the lentils to the curry base and stirred through with half a bag of baby spinach leaves, around a cup of red wine, a veg stock cube, hot water and seasoning, and brought to the boil.

At this stage I made up the table.

And prepared my accompaniments: raita: which is just yoghurt and finly diced cucumber. Chutney, home made by my friend Miss A, a tomato and onion salad and a banana and coconut salad.

It is at this stage I would like to give my sincerest apologies. I have either forgotten to take, or did take and somehow managed to lose all the completed meal photos. My head has been so foggy with the cold I have picked up. I literally spent 90 minutes doing a full system restore in the hopes I had just deleted them. I feel like a big dork.

After all the prep was complete I turned the burners off to allow them to cool, and hopefully trick the curries into thinking they had been left overnight (cause they always taste better the next day).

About half an hour before my housemate and guests arrive I warm the curries through, they both taste magnificent. The lentil curry has softened and the flavours developed. I add the remaining half bag of spinach, a touch more water and stir though.

The pork curry have become so rich. The flavours are all quite delicate, the sauce has become wonderfully creamy (despite the lack of any creamy product addition) and the aubergine has become almost at one with the sauce, but when you do locate a chunk it is pure bliss. I am surprised how tender the pork has become. And I am so pleased with the lingering spicy heat.

As my guests arrive, Miss C has heard about my man-flu... undoubtedly all the whinging I have done to anyone who would, and often to those who wouldn't listen... and brought me a sign to wear around my neck. I love this.

Once housemate S arrives I ask him to cook the rice, as cooking rice really scares me, and we just haven't gotten around to getting a rice cooker in the house. We put the naans in the over 5 mins before the rice is ready, and place the poppadoms on the table. The rice comes out quite sticky, but it is so tasty and works great as it stays together when shoveled up on a piece of naan.

My favourite was the creamy pork curry, but my guests love the lentil curry. All the food turned out great and I was so happy my guests enjoyed it all.

Lets hope my head clears up before my next post.

Desperation Cooking

I really love desperation cooking. Sometimes the day before a food shop, most often when hungover. It really is an exciting challenge.

What is desperation cooking?

It's a phrase I made up... just now. But to me it's very similar to the Ready Steady Cook mystery bag

So, it's when you have almost nothing in the kitchen. No ready meals, or quick to defrost easiness. No prime cuts. No Pot Noodles to fall back onto. Yes: using noting but your food-skills you create a meal from... not much at all.

I have never had a problem with this. Its such a fun game to play (even when I have a foggy head, and only a few hours sleep). And this weekend I challenged myself twice.

Before I start, I must say we are very lucky in that we always have a well stocked spice cupboard, always have virgin olive oil, butter, onions- and this is a great help.

Saturday night dinner: Spicy Chinese Chicken soup with clear Sweet Potato noodles.

I had: stock cubes, canned carrot, mushrooms, chilli, chicken pieces, sweet potato starch noodles (a great item I discovered in the Asian grocery store: gluten free, and cheap as anything), sesame oil.

I created a gorgeous soup (good for re-hydrating, and filling the post-drink salt cravings). I simply created the soup base with water, stock cubes, onion, chilli, carrot and mushroom. Pan-fried the chicken pieces then shredded the meat. Added this meat and the noodles to the soup base and wha-la!

Lunch: Sunday: Pasta with squash, and tuna in a cream sauce.

This one was so tasty. Boiled off the gluten-free pasta and squash in salted water. Drained. Added creme fraiche, seasoned with tonnes of salt, pepper and cayenne pepper. Stirred through canned tuna pieces. It was just amazing.

I find this really easy to do. But know that most people can look at a cupboard or a fridge 75% stocked and find 'nothing to eat'.

Are you a desperation cooking expert?

Do you have any desperation key recipes?